Halloween Visitor

She’s baaack! Look who showed up at the Halloween trick-or-treat walk at the Eagle River Nature Center today. This is the same bear that I’d been photographing earlier this summer & fall - the same bear that bluff charged a few times, which led to the temporary closure of the Rodak Nature Trail and viewing decks. The trail has been open for more than a week now and this is the first reported sighting since before the closure on October 3, although she has recently been spotted just a few miles down the road. She made her usual rounds in the creek and past the viewing decks, occasionally picking up a decaying salmon to gnaw on. Because of the event we were hosting, there were a number of people on the trails and fortunately she passed by without turning her attention to the onlookers. Hopefully, the rapidly shortening daylight hours will soon trigger her instinct to seek higher ground and den for the winter.